Pacers vs. Rockets
The Pacers are in them midst of a long road trip, and while it’s broken up some by a few homes games, this will be their fourth road game in a row, and after a quick stop at home to play the Suns, they go back on the road for five out of six more games after tonight. Tonight they are in Houston, and the NBA odds boards have the Rockets as -1½ favorites, with a total of 207 points. Indiana has now won three of their last four games SU since the start of 2016, and with a big injury tonight potentially for the Rockets, it would not surprise me to see the Pacers get a road win here again.

We have talked time and again how the Pacers have not been great on the road against the Western Conference this season, but they now have two covers versus the West this season after we correctly predicted their road win against the Pelicans, and tonight against the Rockets, who could be without Dwight Howard, the Pacers won’t be exposed by the Rockets’ center. Indiana has been bad at defending big men, and even though their rookie, Myles Turner is back and playing well, he is still working his way back from an injury that cost him several games, and other than him and Ian Mahinmi, the Pacers have very little frontcourt depth.

However, if Howard doesn’t play, the Pacers look like a bargain as +1 ½ dogs. Howard did not practice with the Rockets yesterday, and if he misses shoot around this morning, I am locking in the Pacers taking the point and a half. Indiana is 21-15 ATS this season and slowly becoming a very good ATS wager most nights. With Houston only 1-5 ATS in their last six games overall, so, for your NBA picks, look for the Pacers to win and cover tonight on the road.

Jazz vs. Lakers
The final game of the evening features the banged up Jazz heading into LA to play the Lakers, and the NBA Odds have the Jazz as -1½ road favorites in this one, with a total of 194. The Jazz are dealing with several injuries, but they got back Rudy Gobert a few games ago, and while they might still be without Derrick Favors tonight, Gordon Hayward dropped 34 points last night, and if he isn’t too tired from carrying the Jazz against the Heat, I see them beating LA tonight as well.

However, it really all depends on the status of Gobert, who just returned from a knee sprain, and if he hasn’t been cleared for back to backs, he likely won’t play tonight. Gobert played 28 minutes last night in the win and he blocked four shots while doing it, and as long as he is ready to go in this one, I am backing the Jazz.

While they have not played yet this season, I doubt the Lakers are going to get another 44-point performance from Lou Williams, and while the Lakers have been looking better over their last few games, the pace, defense and style of Utah’s game is going to give them problems. With the Lakers giving up nearly 111 points per game to conference opponents this season, I am ignoring the fact that Utah is 0-5 ATS in their last five road games. The Jazz are still 4-3 ATS this season when playing on no rest.